Wire-staple forming and discharging mechanism.



PATENTED NOV. 14, 1905.

V. HOXIE. WIRE STAPLE FORMING AND DISGHARGING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 18,1904.

3 SHEETS-SEEBT 1.

' INVENTOR. WMfM fl? W75 W No. 804,323.v 'PATENTED NOV. 14, 1905. V. HOXIB. WIRE STAPLE FORMING AND DISGHARGING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION IILBD JULY 18,1904.

WlTNESSE S: mfiww 7 INVENTOR.

No. 804,328. PATENTED NOV. 14,1905.

v. HOXIB. WIRE STAPLE FORMING AND DISGHARGING MECHANISM.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 18, 1904.

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WITNESSES: INVENTOR.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VERNON HOXIE, OF ADRIAN, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO LAMB WIRE FENCE COMPANY, OF ADRIAN, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

WIRE-STAPLE FORMING AND DISCHARGING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 14, 1905.

Application filed July 18, 1904:. Serial No. 217,105.

To a, whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, VERNON Hoxm, aciti- Zen of the United States, and a resident of Adrian, in the county of Lenawee and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in WVire-Staple Forming and Discharging Mechanism; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in mechanism for forming a staple from a section of wire intermittently fed thereto and discharging and clamping the same about portions of a fabric or other object being formed and intermittently moved by suitable mechanism in a plane intersecting the plane of discharge of said staples.

The object of my invention is to improve upon the construction of prior apparatus of this class by the provision of mechanism that is simple and positive in its construction and operation and adapted to sever a section of wire fed thereto, form a staple therefrom, and either clamp it about an alining object or deposit it without said mechanism for any desired purpose.

The invention is fully described in the following specification, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is aside elevation of my improved mechanism and associated operating means, showing the supporting-framein vertical section. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central vertical section of my improved mechanism with the forming and discharging parts shown in extreme forward position. Fig. 3 is a similar view thereof, showing the position of the operative parts after a staple has been formed and prior to its discharge. Fig. A is a longitudinal vertical section of the staple forming and discharging parts, showing the same as moving forward to discharge a staple. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of Fig. 4:. Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the same in section on the dotted line it w in Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is aplan of the block in which the operative parts are mounted, showing the sliding cover in normal position. Fig. 8 is a front elevation of said block, showing the wire cutting and receiving parts and the forming parts in position to engage and draw a severed section of wire Within the receiving-grooves; and Fig. 9 is a detail of the wire-cutting mechanism, showing the position of the parts immediately after the wire has been severed.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a portion of the frame of a loom or other wireworking machine with which my invention may be associated. Mounted on the upper portion 1 of the frame 1 is the fixed block 2, in which the staple forming and discharging parts are located, and the longitudinally-movable tables 3 and 4:, which are guided in their movements by leaders 1 provided on the frame portion 1, at either end of the block 2. The table 3 carries adie 3 on one of its ends for intermittently coacting with the die 2 on the discharge end of the block 2 and clenching a discharged staple about an interposed object, as hereinafter described.

The block 2 has its upper "forward surface formed on substantially a forty-five-degree plane and is provided thereunder with a central longitudinal bore 5, in which the sectorgear 6 and reciprocatory rack? operate. The rack 7 is provided on its upper longitudinal edges with the lateral ribs or shoulders 7, which are adapted to operate in the grooved way or opening 8, provided in the block 2 above the bore 5 and guide said rack in its reciprocatory movement. The shoulders 7 terminate at their forward ends in the longitudinally-projecting tongue 9, which is moved by said plunger to discharge a previouslyformed staple from the forward end of the block 2. The sector-gear 6 is mounted on a stud 6 in the lower portion of the bore 5 and is adapted to receive an oscillatory movement for the purpose of forming a staple and imparting the requisite movement to the rack 7 with which it meshes by reason of the link 10 having one end pivotally secured within the slotted portion 8 of said sector and its other end pivotally connected to the table 4: in any suitable manner. At the forward edge of the sector 6 is provided a radially-projecta section of wire 11 previously deposited in its path of movement, as hereinafter described, andform it into U shape by drawing it within the grooved way 8, the movement of the IOC sector-gear 6 and rack 7 being so adjusted that the section of wire 11 is engaged and drawn within said groove immediately upon the'receding of the tongue 9 past the same, as shown in Fig. 8.

The block 2 has its forward face provided with the upper and lower transverse strips 12 and 12, which cover the guideway 8 and prevent a lateral movement of the rack 7 therein. The portion of theforward face of the block 2, disposed between these strips, is cut away to a plane parallel with the lower surface of the way 8, as shown at 13 in the figures of the drawings. Secured to the face of said block at either side of the path of movement of the rack 7 are the longitudinal leaderblocks 14, which have their upper ends abutting against the upper transverse strip 12 and theirlower ends terminating at a point above the lower strip 12, so as to leave an intervening space 13 therebetween, as shown in the drawings. A longitudinally movable cover 15 is mounted between the leader-blocks 14c and has its under surface provided with a circular longitudinal bore or groove 15 for receiving the upper shouldered portion of the rack 7 and also the section of wire 11, which is drawn therein by the operation of the pin 8 on the sector-gear 6. The cover 15 is caused to move forward with the rack 7 on its discharging movement by reason of the legs of the staple 11, which is drawn therein on the rearward movement of the sectorgear and rack expanding and frictionally engaging the sides of the groove 15, thereby guiding the discharging-staple through the open space 13 of the block 2 and directing the legs thereof into the alining discharge-way 8 of the lower transverse strip 12. A contractionspring 16 operates to return the cover 15 to its normal position as soon as the dischargingstaple 11 has been moved far enough within the opening 8 in the lower strip 12 to clear itself of said cover.

The forward edges of the leader-blocks 1 1 are beveled on a vertical plane and have the vertically-disposed housing 17 securely bolted thereto, as shown in Figs. 1 and 8. This housing is designed to receive the sections of wire as they are intermittently fed thereto by mechanism hereinafter described and to guide the same in their falling movement after being severed and hold them in position to be engaged and drawn within the groove in the sliding cover 15 by the operation of the pin 8 on the rearward movement of the sector 6. The wire 11 from which the sections 11 are cut, is fed to one side of the housing 17 through the feed-opening 18, which is provided through the block 2 at one side of the bored portion 5 thereof in vertically-alining position with said housing. As the end of the wirepasses upwardly within the housing 17 it comes in contact with the springfinger 17 and is caused to be deflected toward the center of the block 2 and when severed to fall in advance of the sliding cover 15 in position to be drawn within the groove 15 thereof on the rearward movement of the sector 6 and rack 7. The lower forward portion of the housing 17 is left entirely open and unobstructed except for the spring-fingers 17 which are secured to the upper forward part thereof and project downwardly on either side of the forward end of the cover 15 in position to engage the ends of a severed section of wire 11 and retain it within the lower part of said housing until the sectorgear 6 has made a sufficient rearward revolution for the pin 8 to engage and draw it within the cover 15, as shown in Fig. 8.

After apredetermined length of wire has been fed to the housing 17 it is caused to'be severed by the end of the reciprocatory knife 19 operating over the upper end of the feedopening 18, which latter terminates at the base of said housing, thus enabling the severed section actuated by the spring 17 to fall to a horizontal position transversely of the block 2.

The knife 19 is moved by an oscillation of the vertically-disposed alining lever 20 to sever the wire 11, the said lever being mounted on a stud 21 at the upper rear portion of the block 2 within a suitable socket provided therefor, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 9. An arm 10 is secured in vertical position to the link 10, and mounted thereon is the springpressed finger or pawl 22, which has its end hooked to engage a notch provided in the upper end of the lever 20, thereby causing the lever to be oscillated and the knife 19 moved to sever a previously-fed section of wire at each rearward movement of the section 6 and rack 7. The oscillatory movement of the lever 20 is limited and adjusted by means of the adjusting-bolts 20*, one of which abuts against the contiguous end of the knife 19 and the other against the adjacent portion of the block 2. The knife 19 and lever 20 are actuated to return to their normal positions after a length of wire 11 has been severed by reason of a coiled expansion-spring 19 being mounted on the outer end of the knife 19 and having its ends abutting against a contiguous portion of the block 2 and a shoulder on said knife, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 of the drawings, 23 and 23 represent the horizontal and vertical wires, respectively, of a fabric about the intersecting portions of which the staples 11 are clamped during the forward movement of the rack 7. After a staple has been clamped about the alining portions of the wires the table 3 recedes to permit the wires 23 to be moved a predetermined distance by suitable mechanism and another stay or vertical wire 23 to drop between the faces of the coacting dies 2 and 3 into position to be clamped to the alining horizontal wire by the discharge of the succeeding staple. A guide 24 is shown as being mounted on the end of the table 3 adjacent to the block 2 to guide a stay-wire 23 as it drops into position between the dies 2 and 3. A bar 24, Fig. 3, is also shown as being secured to the side of block 2 or table 3 for supporting the stay-wire 23 in proper position between the die-faces.

Having thus described the parts comprising my invention, I will now briefly describe the mechanism shown in the drawings for intermittently feeding the staple-wire thereto and actuating the movable parts thereof, the said mechanism being similar to that shown and described in a former application, Serial No. 213,925, filed by William F. Truman and myself on June 24:, 1904:.

Motion is transmitted to the shaft 25, which is mounted in the frame 1, and to the spurgear 25 thereon from any suitable power and is communicated from said gear to the gears 26 and shafts 26, which are mounted at either end of said frame through the medium of the idler-pinions 27. Eccentrics 28 are employed for communicating a reciprocal movement from the shafts 26 to the tables 3 and 4 and are connected with said tables through the medium of the eccentric-rods 28 and the links 29, the latter pivotally connecting said rods with a boss 30 at either end of the frame 1 and the associated table. As the receding movement of the table 3 need be only suflicient to enable the fabric being woven to freely pass between the coacting faces for the dies 2 and 3 as the stay-wires 23 are successively clamped to the wires 23, I employ an eccentric for that purpose having a less radial swing than the one employed for reciprocating the table 4.

The wire 11" from which the staples 11 are formed is caused to be intermittently fed to the housing 17 by the feed-wheels 31 and 32, the former, together with the rigidly-connected ratchet 33, being loosely mounted on the stud or shaft 34 and the latter being loosely mounted on the stud 35. An arm 36 is mounted on the shaft 3 1 and carries a pawl 37 for engaging the ratchet 33 and imparting the proper movement to the feed-wheel 31 at each forward movement of the arm 36, which latter is occasioned by reason of the link 38 connecting the arm 36 with the table 4, thereby causing the feed-wheel 31 to be rotated a predetermined distance at each forward movement of the said table.

In the operation of my invention the revolving of the eccentrics 28 causes a properlytimed reciprocal movement of the tables 3 and 4, the former receding to permit a movement of the fabric being woven, as above described, and the latter moving for the purpose of imparting the proper movements to the sectorgear 6 and rack 7. As the tableA: recedes a wire section 11, which was fed to the housing 17 on the forward movement of said table, is severed and falls transversely of the block 2 into position to be centrally engaged by the pin 8 in its rearward revolution and drawn within the grooved way 8. The movement of the meshing sector 6 and rack 7 is so timed that as soon as the forward end of the tongue 9 has receded past the severed wire section 11 the latter is engaged by the pin 8 and drawn within the groove 15, provided in the sliding cover 15 in advance of said tongue, thereby forming the wire section into U shape and leaving it in position to be discharged by the forward movement of the rack 7. On the return movement of the table 4 another section of wire is fed to the housing 17 and the rack 7 moved to discharge the staple 11 from the block 2 and clamp it about the alining intersecting portions of a fabric being woven or other object. The expansion of the legs of a staple causes the sliding cover 15 to move forward therewith as it is being discharged, thereby holding said staple intact while traversing the open space 13 and causing its legs to be directed within the grooved way 8 in the lower transverse strip 12 of the block 2, the said cover being actuated by the spring 16 to return to its normal position in said block as soon as the staple has been moved clear thereof.

While it has been necessary in the description and drawings illustrating my invention to show and describe some means for operating the staple-forming mechanism, feeding the wire thereto, and severing the same, it will be obvious that numerous methods of performing these several functions might be devised without detracting from the merits of my invention, which consists in the provision of a staple forming and discharging mechanism substantially as shown and described or the equivalent of such mechanism, and also that such changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction of the parts as'fairly fall within the scope of my invention may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof. It is also-apparent that as many of the staple-forming machines may be employed in a loom as there are warp-wires in the fabric being woven, one being mounted at each intersecting of a freshly-fed woof-wire with a warp-wire. I also wish it understood that while I have particularly described the invention as being for use in conjunction with wirefabric machines, the same may be used separately or in connection with other machines for similar or analogous purposes without departing from the spirit of my claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a staple-forming mechanism, an oscillatory staple-forming member, a staple-holding guide member disposed tangentially with respect to the path of movement of said member, and a staple-discharging member movable &

in said guideway and having engagement with the oscillatory member whereby it receives its movement.

2. A staple-forming mechanism, comprising a member movable in the arc of acircle to form astaple, a guide member into which the staple is forced by said member, and a reciprocatory member having connection with and movable by said forming member to discharge the formed staple.

3. In a staple-machine, a fixed block having a grooved way therein, a sector-gear mounted in said block, a projection on said gear movable in the path of said way to draw a section of wire therein and form a staple therefrom, a reciprocatory rack movable in said way by said sector-gear to discharge a formed staple, and mechanism for moving said sector.

4:. In a staple-machine, a fixed member having a grooved way therein, a sectorgear mounted in said member, a reciprocal rack movablein the grooved way of said member by said gear, anda projection on said gear adapted to form a section of wire into U shape Withdraw a section of wire Within said opening,

form it into U shape and leave it in position therein to be discharged by a movement of said plunger, and means for imparting movement to said element.

6. In astaple-machine, a sector-gear having a staple-forming projection thereon,a member having an opening disposed tangentially to said gear and in the path of movement of the projection thereon, a plunger in said opening having engagement with said gear whereby a reciprocatory movement is imparted thereto to discharge a formed staple, and means for operating said gear.

7. In a staple-machine, a fixed member, a block longitudinally movable on a portion of said member and having a groove therein, mechanism for intermittently feeding a section of wire to said member and severing and depositing the same in transverse relation to the groove in said block, an element movable to draw the wire section within the groove in said block, and form a staple therefrom, and means movable by said element to move said block and the inclosed staple a predetermined distance and to discharge the staple therefrom.

8. In a staple-machine, a fixed member having an open space therein, a staple-forming element and a staple-discharging element operative in said member, a block mounted in said open space and having an opening therein for receiving said discharging element and into which a section of wire is drawn and formed into U shape, said block being adapted to move with and retain the staple intact as the latter is caused to move through the open space in said block in the discharging operation thereof.

9. In a staple-machine, a fixed member having an opening provided through a portion thereof and a portion of its upper surface cut away in a plane intersecting the plane of said opening, a block mounted over said opening and adapted to be moved across the cutaway portion and having a groove provided longitudinally therein over and in registration with said opening, mechanism for feeding and depositing a section of wire in adple from said block and fixed member, said block moving therewith across the cut-away portion.

10. In combination, an oscillatory stapleforming element, a member having an opening into which a wire is drawn and formed into U shape by said element, and a reciprocatory element having direct engagement with and movable by said forming element to discharge a formed staple from the opening in said member.

11. In combination, an oscillatory stapleforming element, a movable staple-holding member disposed in a plane tangential to said oscillatory element and having an opening into which a staple is drawn, and a reciprocatory plunger having connection with and movable by said element to move said stapleholding member a predetermined distance and then discharge the staple therefrom.

12. In combination, a sector-gear having a radial projection thereon, a member having an elongated opening or guideway disposed in tangential relation to said gear and in the path of movement of the projection thereon, and a rack movable by said gear in said guideway to discharge a staple formed therein by said gear.

13. In combination, a member having a staple-receiving guideway therein, mechanism for intermittently feeding a section of wire in contiguous position to said member, mechanism for severing the fed section, an element movable in the arc of a circle to draw the severed section into said guideway and form it into U shape, and a plunger having engagement with and movable in said guideway by said element whereby a formed staple is discharged therefrom.

14. In combination, a member having a grooved way therein, mechanism for intermittently feeding a section of wire in adjacent position to said member, mechanism for severing the fed section of wire to permit it to be drawn Within said groovedway, and an oscillatory staple-forming member and a re- In testimony WhereofIhavehereunto signed ciprocatory plunger having meshing engagemy name to this specification in the presence IO merl1td and movabklle together in the same genof two subscribing Witnesses.

era irection w ereby a section of Wire is drawn into said Way and formed into a staple VERNON HOXIE' during one direction of their movement and WVitnesses:

discharged therefrom during the opposite di- W. A. HOISINGTON,

rection of their movement. EMMA WHITE. 

